Land Rover thefts, prevention is better than cure. Or just don't buy one?

This is a serious article about Land Rover thefts even though the tone may not seem it at times but I do hope this resonates with you.

If I told you our clients have chased thieves down the road after stealing their Range Rover Sport would you believe me? If I also told you thieves stole our clients' Range Rover from outside their home in London in 40 seconds would you believe me?

Of course you would because Land Rover thefts happen all day every day yet they seem to be one of the most desirable cars to own. Will this article change your mind? Or perhaps we can offer you some sound advice that will make your Land Rover ownership pain free (apart from their reliability issues!)

Let's rewind. Where and why did this spout of thefts start? 

Cars have been ‘boosted’ for decades, the lack of sophisticated security makes it easy for a thief to get what they want. Shove a screwdriver in a door lock, rip out the steering column wiring, some school grade electrics knowledge and you're away so yep I get it, it was easy back then. Crooks steal a car, strip it or sell it to another crook. 

Before we move onto the sophisticated security (hmm) cars benefit from nowadays, we have to mention why Land Rovers specifically get targeted and make up 44% of all cars recovered by Tracker in 2021. It started with the old Defender we all love. As much as we love them, so do thieves, they can be stripped in a matter of minutes (even mine was stolen from my driveway and later recovered as a shell), with the parts being sold for huge profits. Easy money for a car thief!

Now onto the current security cars have.

As standard a normal car will have an alarm and an immobiliser, some prestige cars come with Trackers (Land Rover’s funnily enough) otherwise you've got to ask the manufacturer to install a tracking device for you from someone like Vodafone or Scorpion. Ok, so thats all good you’ve got a tracker now you can buy a Land Rover and it wont get stolen…..think again!

Thieves are masters at their game, they've stolen so many Land Rovers with trackers that even Land Rover’s own insurance won't insure a Land Rover anymore….yep you read that right you cannot buy insurance from Land Rovers own insurance which also means you won't get ‘drive away’ cover, those convenient 7 days of cover you get from the day of purchase. Maybe it's because after those 7 days clients couldn't insure them? Or is it purely because they're all stolen? Your guess is as good as mine.

In case you’re wondering, the Range Rover Sport and Range Rover Vogue are the most stolen cars in the UK. You’d never have guessed it, right!

Ok ok, I'll stop with the sarcasm and now be your serious advisor on what to do to help make your Land Rover ownership pain free. And I promise it really can be! Lean in, Mr and Mrs Chelsea (tractor)....sorry sarcasm stops now, promise!

Right. Let’s talk about top tier security for your Land Rover, in fact this goes for any car that you’d rather not get stolen and have a huge claim on your records…after all that is the goal right?

Trackers - let's be real here, whether installed by the manufacturer (worse because they are always installed in the same location) or by a third party vehicle security firm, don’t work without power from the car battery. If a thief can get into your car and disable the battery then the tracker is useless. They’ll either do this and lift it or just drive it off. Now when they drive it off two things will happen. They will drive it somewhere, not far away, park it up and leave it for 24 hours. If its got a tracker, the police can (should) find it because you’ve reported the theft (you can't locate it yourself because any app will not tell you the location your car is, only the cops know so let’s hope they do their job right and go to find your car) or they will drive it away as fast as they can breaking all speed limits and going through as many speed cameras as they like until its in a secure unit to rip the tracker out. Ok so now you can see how trackers can and sometimes don't work. My advice is don't rely on trackers.

Ghost Immobilisers - what's that? A ghost immobiliser is a bit of technology installed to your car that disables the engine until you press a preset sequence of buttons e.g. indicate left, press heated seat and one other, then press start. Don't expect to use your remote start to defrost your car from in your home if you have one because a ghost immobiliser disables this feature that having owned a few is a mighty convenient features however this will most certainly prevent a theft of your car so its a warm bum in the winter mornings or a very hot car flying down to Southampton at 100mph without you in it, you decide!

The Holy Grail - a Steering Wheel Lock. Yep that ugly yellow thing that may dent your padded leather steering wheel (use a cloth to protect it) but yes this is hands down the best theft prevention tool you will ever invest in. I know we’ve all heard stories of thieves smashing them open with hammers but that takes a lot of effort and makes a lot of noise, instead they’ll just walk 5 metres and nick your neighbours Range Rover without one. Next time you see a Land Rover without a steering wheel lock you will feel smug knowing a prowling thief is likely to nick theirs not yours! 

A key box - heard of a faraday box? A little key box that stops your key emitting its signals that thieves use to clone to get access to your car and steal it in 40 seconds. Get one today on Amazon, keep it as far away from your car as you can. Easy peasy.

A garage - out of sight out of mind. If you have one, use it!

Do all of the above and that my friends is all it takes to enjoy pain free Land Rover ownership.

Hold up. I can hear you now ‘Sam, before you go, give us some insider knowledge of the costs to insure my new shape Range Rover please please!!’

Well let’s say this, £120,000 Range Rover Sport with Admiral will cost you £45,000 but may exclude theft cover…

With us it’ll cost £25,000 but granted that's with a previous theft claim. Without a theft claim it'll be around £10,000 or with Admiral without a theft claim probably about £1,000 lol, anyway that's a story for another day…

The moral of the story is. Buy a Porsche Cayenne. Faster and better in every way. You wont regret it, you may just have to wait a while for one because demand is high (from all those Range Rover owners who can't insure their cars, du dum!)

See you in the next article where we talk about watch thefts, yacht fires, footballers being robbed and much more. Oh the exciting life of an insurance broker (that comment isn't sarcasm btw I love what I do)

Ps. this article isn't a Land Rover lead generation attempt.

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